Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Oversight subcommittee hears bleak audit findings and bed losses in Michigan child welfare system
Summary
Representative Merriman summarized multiple hearings that found systemic problems in Michigan's child welfare system, citing auditor general findings, high time-in-care, frequent moves for children in foster care, and a sharp drop in child-caring institution beds.
Representative Merriman, chair of the Child Welfare System subcommittee, presented a multi-hearing update detailing systemic deficiencies in Michigan child welfare services and child-caring institutions.
Merriman cited state statistics presented to the subcommittee: 35 child maltreatment fatalities in Michigan (2.04 per 100,000 children), an average time in care of 28.8 months, more than 25% of children spending three or more years in care, and about 10% of youth reentering foster care at least once. He said Michigan’s rate of children aging out of foster care without a permanent home is about 14%, compared with…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
